While the public may not have made any input, several members of the Newton Community School District Board of Education raised questions about purchasing a new school bus.
At Monday’s board meeting, NCSD Transportation Supervisor Curt Roorda explained to the board why he felt purchasing a new $82,458 bus would more beneficial to students who attend Woodrow Wilson and Thomas Jefferson elementary schools.
“Last year, we had a total of six Suburbans — by the end of the year we had seven Suburbans — transporting students with special needs in-and-out throughout the district,” Roorda said. “I looked at the routes and did some mapping. I decided to consolidate three of the routes, possibly four of the routes, to one bus.”
Students who receive Individualized Education Plans or IEPs, will be the primary passengers on the 48-seat bus, which the board approved the purchase of but not without first raising some concerns.
“I’m thinking about the population that it is intended for, and that is special needs kids,” board member Donna Cook said.
Cook questioned whether taking students, who normally ride in Suburbans, and placing on them on a more standard bus would raise those students stimulation level.
“Moving a child from a Suburban, where you maybe have four kids or six kids, to a situation where you have 48 or 32 (passengers) even, I’m concerned about the impact that would have on that child,” Cook said.
Roorda said he can only envision 15 to 20 students being placed on the new bus. He also said he doesn’t believe the district will provide an additional adult passengers for the bus as an extra precaution for those students, which was another issue for Cook.
“By increasing the numbers, I think there is probably some increased potential for behavior issues just from stimulation,” Cook said.
Cook, and fellow board members Nat Clark and Robyn Friedman, also asked Roorda if he could make sure that parents are notified about this upcoming change in transportation.
The new bus will come from Hoglund Bus Company of Marshalltown, and board member Travis Padget questioned why Roorda recommended that bus as it was the highest of the three bids.
Roorda said the model had compatible parts with a number of the district’s other buses, and that he felt the proximity to Marshalltown was beneficial in case something went wrong.
This purchase will increase the district’s bus count to 34. The new bus won’t arrive until October or November, and it will be paid for using Physical Plant and Equipment Levy funds.
In other business, NCSD Associate Director of Elementary Education Services Jim Gilbert presented the district’s very preliminary Annual Yearly Progress results. He said the Iowa Department of Education has been backed up and hasn’t released full results to districts. Gilbert said he would be ready to give the final results at the end of September.
Senior staff writer Ty Rushing may be contacted at (641) 792-3121, ext. 6532, or at trushing@newtondailynews.com.